Sometrics, a startup that's presenting at the next Under the Radar: Social Media & Entertainment on June 3rd, just received a seed round from the newly created Mailroom Fund, the venture love-child of William Morris, Accel Partners, Venrock & AT&T.
Lewis Henderson, SVP of digital platforms at William Morris, will be a judge at Under the Radar, though he won't be judging Sometrics of course :)
Check-out the line-up and you'll notice that Lewis isn't the only Hollywood shot-caller on the list. Expect to see tinseltown making a ot more trips to Silicon Valley over the coming months...this space is heating up and there's no shorting of funds and startups.
We're looking for a few volunteers for Under the Radar on June 3rd. You'll have a chance to attend sessions and join in on the event meals and the reception - A great networking opportunity!
Below are the details. If you're interested, please email giselle at dealmakermedia dot com.
Volunteer positions:
1. Registration: 7:15AM - 12:15PM OR 12:15PM - 5:15PM - Materials organization/set-up in a.m. - Assist at the reg desk, checking in attendees and handing out badges.
2. Speaker greeting: 7:30AM - 4:30PM - Work with registration desk to find out when speakers arrive and take them to their rooms and introduce them to the room monitors and the Moderators.
3. General Session assistance: 7:30AM - 4:30PM - Provide microphone assistance for the question and answer (Q/A) session at the end of the panel discussion. - Provide support to the room monitor
EVENT INFORMATION: Date: Tuesday, June 3, 2008 Time: 8:00am - 6:30pm Location: Microsoft | 1065 La Avenida, Mountain View, CA 94043
Jack LaLanne, the 92-year-old fitness guru, on public speaking: "If you believe in something, you can talk about it. To get in front of a crowd drives me nuts, but I have a message to deliver."
As you may or may not know we do quite a bit of preparation with our Under the Radar presenting companies. We go over pitches and decks and talk about technology, business models, market shares and CEO pedigrees. It's almost always a great conversation for everyone on the calls - even the most experienced talkers get some insight into what they want to say up on stage.
I've come across a few great articles about giving presentations and pitches on Forbes.com that I wanted to get up on our site - my favorite excerpts are here and links to the entire articles below.
DONT'S:
"All business ideas have inherent risks. Don't ignore them and don't pretend they aren't there... Instead, identify the risks and explain how you plan to deal with them, and perhaps even turn them to your advantage some day."
"Make sure your story tracks the market and the numbers you present; investors don't want to work with a management team that doesn't have a firm grip on reality."
"Don't spend your entire presentation explaining every esoteric detail of your software. Each feature you share should serve to demonstrate--clearly and quickly--the company's money-making potential."
DO'S:
Focus hard on your company's core value proposition. Your presentation needs a clear, consistent theme. If you don't know it, the audience won't either
Focus on the overall market and your company's prospects within it.
Always, always prepare. Never wing it. (Trust me on this one).
Here's another useful concept for you serial entrepreneurs who are too uncomfortable bragging about your accomplishments (or do it way too much): "I've found that when speakers talk about what they know, it's arrogant.When they talk about what they've learned, it's humble and a format of great storytelling." This is actually relevant for everyone - what taught you what you know and how does what you've learned guarantee your success now? This reminder to stay humble comes from an ad guy - Roy Spence, founder and president of GSD&M advertising, part of Omnicom Group.
STRATEGY SERIES EVENT May 21st LAST 3 EVENTS SOLD OUT! May 21, 2008 | 6:30pm 8:30pm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips | San Francisco, CA
Ad-based business models aren't revolutionary - it's the heartbeat of nearly every successful media company. However, the playing field is much more confusing - and crowded - than ever before. Frankly, there's only so many ad dollars and eyeballs to go around. If companies like YouTube and MySpace are having trouble monetizing, how does a startup even get a foot in the door?
To grow your business in a competitive landscape, you'll need to know:
→ Is advertising a viable business model for startups? → Which metrics are advertisers looking for today? → What are the most effective ways to get advertisers' attention? → How effective are ad networks? → At what point should you decide to hire an internal sales team?
